The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for chilling and aging poultry carcasses. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for chilling and aging the front half portions of poultry carcasses.
When processing chicken, turkey, or other types of poultry, the poultry carcass will commonly be divided laterally to produce a front half product and a back half product. The front half will typically comprise the breasts, keel, wings, and a portion of the back. The back half, or saddle, typically comprises the legs, thighs, and the remainder of the back. Prior to deboning and/or other subsequent processing operations, the front halves of the poultry carcasses will commonly be subjected to aging at reduced temperatures in order to increase the tenderness of the product and facilitate any downstream processing operations.
Aging procedures heretofore used in the art have typically involved the steps of: (a) washing whole, eviscerated carcasses with chlorinated water; (b) conducting a visual zero-tolerance fecal inspection using a sample set of the carcasses; (c) chilling the eviscerated whole carcasses in a chlorinated water medium to a temperature in the range of from about 35xc2x0 F. to about 40xc2x0 F.; (d) unloading the whole carcasses from the chiller and hanging the carcasses upside down on a xe2x80x9ccut-up shacklexe2x80x9d conveyor; (e) delivering the carcasses by means of the shackle conveyor through a primary halving apparatus wherein the front and side skin and meat tissue is cut and the backbone is broken or cut such that the front half of the carcass is left hanging from the back half by substantially only a segment of tissue extending between the front and back sections of the backbone; (f) conducting the carcass through a subsequent, secondary halving apparatus wherein the remaining tissue segment is cut so that the front half is completely separated from the back half; (g) collecting the front halves in batch tubs and aging the front halves by placing the tubs in a refrigerated air cooler for a period in the range of from about 8 to about 10 hours; and then (h) moving the batch tubs of aged product from the cooler to the appropriate downstream processing stations.
Primary and secondary halving apparatuses for poultry carcasses are well known in the art. An example of one type of primary halving apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435. The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 is incorporated herein by reference.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 comprises: a tilted, rotating cog wheel having a circumferential array of radially projecting teeth (or fingers); an elongate horizontal auger (referred to in the ""435 Patent as a xe2x80x9cleg space conveyorxe2x80x9d) which receives the back (saddle) portions of the carcasses as they are carried by the shackle conveyor and assists the shackle conveyor in moving the carcasses through the halving apparatus; an elongate guide rod generally running parallel to the leg space conveyor; a stationary incision blade which does not rotate with the cog wheel but projects outwardly from a radial gap formed in the wheel; and an inclined conical auger positioned after the cog wheel and rotating counter to the leg space conveyor.
In operation, the shackle conveyor delivers whole, eviscerated poultry carcasses to the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 in inverted position such that the backs of the carcasses face outwardly toward the leg space conveyor and the elongate guide rod. The shackle conveyor and leg space conveyor carry the carcasses into the tilted rotating cog wheel such that the carcasses tangentially intersect with the teeth of the cog wheel as the teeth move along the downward portion of their rotational path.
Specifically, as each carcass is delivered into the downward arcuate path of the cog wheel, one of the teeth of the cog wheel contacts the front skin of the carcass covering the evisceration vent and pushes the back of the carcass firmly against the leg space conveyor and the guide rod. The tooth thus operates to stabilize the carcass and to desirably tension both the front skin thereof and the two side breast-to-thigh tissue webs extending between the keel and thighs of the carcass. With the carcass stabilized and tensioned in this manner, it is carried by the cog wheel, the leg space conveyor, and the shackle conveyor into the stationary blade so that the blade cuts transversely through the tensioned front skin and side tissue webs at a point just below the tip of the breast keel.
Following the cutting operation, the shackle conveyor and the leg space conveyor of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 apparatus carry the carcass into the leading end of the inclined, counter-rotating conical auger so that the conical auger engages the front opening formed by the cutting operation in a manner effective to pull the hanging front half of the carcass downward and bend the front half backward under the elongate guide bar. The inclined conical auger thus operates to effect a further separation of the front and back halves of the carcass by breaking the backbone of the carcass and accomplishing a further pull-tearing of the side tissue webs.
Following the primary halving operation, the front half of the carcass is left hanging from the saddle by substantially only a segment of back skin tissue extending between the forward and rearward sections of the broken backbone. To thus complete the separation of the front half of the carcass from the back half, the carcass will typically be conveyed by the shackle conveyor to a secondary halving apparatus which cuts the remaining tissue extending between the front and back portions of the broken backbone. Some secondary halving devices utilize a rotating circular blade into which the carcasses are guided. Other types of secondary halvers utilize stationary cutting blades.
A secondary halving system 150 of a type commonly employed in the art is depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6. System 150 includes a skin blade 152, a back support member (not shown), and an indexing assembly 156. As the carcasses are delivered from the primary halver to the secondary halver, the indexing assembly 156 operates to receive and to properly orient and position the carcasses for the secondary cutting operation. The indexing assembly 156 also assists in moving the carcasses through skin blade 152.
The particular indexing assembly 156 employed in secondary halving system 150 comprises: a support boom 158; an elongate vertical center shaft 160 rotatably held by boom 158; a chain-drive wheel 162 which is secured at the upper end of center shaft 160 and is engaged by the shackle conveyor drive chain in a manner effective for turning the indexing assembly in coordination with the shackle conveyor; an upper indexing wheel 164 secured on shaft 160 and having fingers 166 projecting radially therefrom for guiding the back half (saddle) of the carcass through the skin blade 152; a similar but larger indexing wheel 168 secured on shaft 160 slightly below upper wheel 164 and having fingers 170 projecting radially therefrom for guiding the loosely hanging front half of the carcass through the skin blade 152.
The typical front half chilling and aging processes employed heretofore have significant shortcomings. Aging the front halves in batch tubs results in: an undesirable degree of product damage due to crushing; significant moisture loss during the batch aging period; high manual labor requirements; employee injuries resulting from tub handling and dumping; undesirable variations in product quality; and increased opportunity for food safety problems or hazards due to handling. Delays between the batch aging process and further downstream processing steps also result in further dehydration and subsequent decreased product yield. Additionally, in the prior chilling and aging processes, any of the carcasses which fail the fecal inspection must be subjected to additional washing processes and then reinspected. This often results in the reinspection of many more birds than necessary (due, in large part, to the lack of a preliminary chilling or batch step of the type provided by the present invention as discussed hereinbelow).
The present invention provides a continuous process for chilling and aging, and an inventive apparatus therefor, which satisfy the needs and alleviate the problems discussed above. The inventive continuous process and apparatus eliminate batch tub aging procedures, reduce dehydration losses, significantly increase product yield, reduce manual labor requirements and the potential for employee injuries, and significantly improve product safety, quality, and consistency. The front halves processed in accordance with the present invention are automatically conveyed to deboning areas or other downstream processing stations immediately after chilling. Additionally, the inventive system provides for fecal inspection and product reconditioning prior to the primary chilling and aging operation, thus eliminating the need to reinspect products unaffected by the inspection failure. This is achieved in large part by utilizing a preliminary step or pre-chiller to keep smaller batch lots for reinspection prior to the reconditioning stand. Moreover, in contrast to the processes commonly used heretofore, the inventive process and apparatus desirably perform the aging procedure in the presence of a medium which both controls the growth of and reduces microbial populations.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a process for chilling and aging front portions of poultry carcasses. The inventive process comprises the steps of: (a) separating eviscerated poultry carcasses into front portions and back portions; (b) then conducting a fecal inspection of at least some of the front portions; (c) pre-chilling the front portions in water and then (d) chilling and aging the front portions.
The inventive process preferably further comprises the step after step (a) and prior to step (b) of washing the front portions. The inventive process preferably then also comprises the step, after step (c) and prior to step (d) when the fecal inspection of step (b) detects a failure, of delivering the front portions through a reconditioning wash and then to step (d).
In another aspect, the present invention provides an improvement in a primary halving apparatus for poultry carcasses of the type which includes a rotatable cog wheel having a plurality of radially projecting teeth and a stationary blade projecting from a radial gap in the cog wheel. The improvement comprises: (a) a plurality of indexing fingers projecting radially from the cog wheel such that, as the poultry carcasses are continuously delivered to the cog wheel, the indexing fingers orient and index the poultry carcasses for cutting and (b) a stationary guide member for guiding the poultry carcasses into engagement with the cog wheel such that the poultry carcasses will slide along and be supported against the stationary guide member during cutting.
The improvement provided by the present invention to the primary halving apparatus preferably further comprises a center shaft for the cog wheel which has been lengthened to accommodate delivery of the poultry carcasses through the primary halving apparatus on an evisceration shackle conveyor.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an improvement to a secondary halving apparatus for poultry carcasses of the type including a chain drive wheel positioned on a center shaft and a pair of indexing wheels positioned on the center shaft below the chain drive wheel. The improvement comprises: (a) extending the center shaft to accommodate delivery of the poultry carcasses to the secondary halving apparatus by an evisceration shackle conveyor and (b) a third indexing wheel positioned on the center shaft between the chain drive wheel and the pair of indexing wheels. The third indexing wheel has a plurality of indexing fingers projecting radially therefrom.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a conveyor for conveying and washing food items comprising: a pair of adjacent conveyor belts, each having an upper carrying run; a vertical divider positioned between the carrying runs of the conveyor belts; and a wash housing through which at least the carrying runs of the conveyor belts are received. The conveyor belts are preferably independently driven so that either of the conveyor belts can be selectively driven in a direction opposite that of the other.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a conveyor for inspecting and washing food items comprising: a first conveyor having an upper carrying run; a wash housing through which at least the carrying run of the first conveyor is received; and a second conveyor positioned below the first conveyor and having a width greater than that of the first conveyor. The inventive conveyor for inspecting and washing preferably further comprises at least one inspection stand positioned adjacent the second conveyor.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.